Star pacer Mohammed Shami has been named in Bengal's squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare trophy 2024/25. Shami is named in the 20-member squad as he looks to prove his fitness for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25.
Shami has not played for India since the ODI World Cup 2023 as an ankle injury has kept him out of action since that tournament. He underwent surgery for his injury in February 2024 and has now returned to action in the domestic circuit.
He played in one round of the Ranji Trophy tournament where he picked seven wickets in the clash against Madhya Pradesh. Shami has featured in all nine Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches for Bengal but has reportedly got some swelling to his knee.
India captain Rohit Sharma also opened up on Shami's fitness after India's loss in the second Test match in Adelaide. Rohit stated that the doors are open for Shami but the team wants to be cautious with him as he has developed swelling in his knee.
"We are just monitoring him because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he got some swelling in his knee, which hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match. We want to be very careful, we don't want to bring him here, he pulls up sore or something happens," Rohit said after the Adelaide Test.
"We want to be more than 100% sure with him because it has been a long time. We don't want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. There are some professionals monitoring, we will take a call based on what those guys feel. They are the ones watching him every game, how he pulls up after the game, after bowling four overs, standing for 20 overs. But the door is open for him to come and play anytime," Rohit had added.
Coming back to the Bengal squad, Shami's fellow speedster Mukesh Kumar has also been picked in the squad that will be led by Sudip Kumar Gharami. Bengal will begin their campaign with a clash against Delhi on December 21 in Hyderabad.
Bengal's Squad: Sudip Kumar Gharami (capt), Mohammed Shami, Anustup Majumdar, Abishek Porel (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Karan Lal, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Sumanta Gupta, Subham Chatterjee, Ranjot Singh Khaira, Pradipta Pramanik, Kaushik Maity, Vikas Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Saksham Chaudhary, Rohit Kumar, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth
